The Oregon State Parks and Recreation Commission will hold its third meeting of the year on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 16-17, at the Red Lion Hotel, 1313 N. Bayshore Dr. in Coos Bay.

The meeting location had previously been announced as Mill Casino Hotel, less than a mile away in the Coos Bay-North Bend area.

The session on Tuesday will begin at 8:30 a.m. with an executive session to discuss acquisition priorities and legal issues; this session is closed to the public. Workshop sessions will begin at 10 a.m., followed by a tour of the Sunset Bay area at 1 p.m.

On Wednesday, the commission will convene its regular business meeting at 8:30 a.m. This portion of the meeting is open to the public and includes time for comment on matters not already on the agenda. During the meeting, the commission will consider, but not vote on, a proposed land exchange affecting part of the Bandon State Natural Area near the town of Bandon, 25 miles south of Coos Bay.

View full sizeLand on Grouse Mountain (shown in yellow) is a possible acquisition by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Existing Clyde Holliday State Recreation Site is in blue, located on the John Day River in Grant County near the intersection of U.S. 395 and U.S. 26.OPRD

Bandon State Natural Area is an 878-acre property comprised of dunes and seasonal wetlands. The property is plagued by gorse, an aggressive, noxious invasive plant. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department has spent $67,000 since 2011 to control gorse and restore native plants.

Under the proposal, 280 acres of property closest to U.S. 101 would be traded to Bandon Biota, a corporation owned by golf course developer Mike Keiser. Bandon Biota intends to develop a 27-hole walking-only golf course on the property. In exchange, Bandon Biota would pay at least $300,000 for gorse control on nearby state park properties, transfer two land parcels near Bandon totaling 208 acres into the state park system, and pay as much as $2.95 million to help purchase two other properties: oceanfront property in Lincoln County known as Whale Cove, and 6,100 acres of forest, prairie and riparian bottomlands in Grant County for use as a future state park.

The possible land acquisition in Grant County is shown on the accompanying map. The land is on either side of U.S. 395, a short way north of Mount Vernon and not far from Clyde Holliday State Recreation Site, a small park with a campground on the John Day River.

According to a state rule approved by the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Commission, property exchanges must provide an overwhelming public benefit.

Commissioners will hear a staff presentation on the proposal, and then turn the floor over to public comment. People who wish to comment on the proposal can do so in person at the commission meeting, where speaking time is limited to three minutes per person, or in writing by sending comments to: OPRD, Attn: Bandon Proposal, 725 Summer St., Suite C, Salem, OR 97301.

Comments may also be sent by email to OPRD: publiccomment@state.or.us. Comments submitted by the end of the business day on Monday will be delivered to the commission before they meet. The deadline for all comments is Aug. 9 at 5 p.m.

The earliest the commission could vote on the Bandon proposal is at its Sept. 24-25 meeting in Condon.